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While the Montreal Canadiens have been playing down the revenge factor for Wednesday night’s game, the Maple Leafs certainly expect the Habs to want to make them pay for the 6-0 whipping that Toronto dished out when they last met at the Bell Centre.

“They’re going to want to come at us right out of the gate and put some pressure on us early so we have to be ready in the first 10 minutes and push them back,” centre Nazem Kadri said Wednesday following the game-day skate at the Air Canada Centre. “I don’t think Montreal will be a team to sit back and kind of dip their toe in the water.

With a victory, the Maple Leafs would pull within a point of the Canadiens, who lead the Eastern Conference. The surprising 12-4-3 Habs haven’t lost in regulation time since that embarrassing shutout Feb. 9. Toronto has handed the Canadiens two of their four regulation losses this season.

Another win will give the Leafs 13 victories, one more triumph than any other team in the Northeast Division and equalling the win count of the Pittsburgh Penguins. With a 12-8-0 record — and three straight home victories — Toronto is off to one of its best starts since the 1993-94 season. But the Leafs also had the same number of points (24) after 20 games last season when they jumped out to an 11-7-2 start.

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Despite the hype, coach Randy Carlyle didn’t want to describe the match as a “statement” game, preferring to say it was a “very important game” for both teams.

“They’re playing very well and we have to be prepared to play to a level that we haven’t played in the last little while, probably not since we last played them,” Carlyle said. “We have to establish a forechecking game. We have to establish that we’re going to play a good portion of the game in the opposition zone.

“But these are going to be very important points at the end of the year.”

Carlyle is expected to go with the same defensive pairing, including Cody Franson with Mark Fraser, who happens to lead the NHL with a plus 14. Franson is a plus 11.

“We’re ready to play a fast-paced game. We’re ready to play a physical game,” Fraser said. “But we know they will come out hot. They’ve been on a roll since we beat them in Montreal.”

The Leafs to a player are very aware of the significance of Wednesday’s game, captain Dion Phaneuf said.

“It’s a big game in the standings. We know what’s at stake. We’ve been saying all year how big points are in a short season,” Phaneuf said. “We expect them to come out and push us. Obviously they’re not happy with what happened the last game.

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“We’re chasing them and I expect it to be a physical game.”

Getting off to a quick start will be crucial to the Leafs extending their dominance over the Canadiens. To win a third straight game over the Habs, the Leafs need to follow a similar script to the one they used in the Montreal rout. In that one, the Leafs started fast, scoring twice in the first six minutes and never looked back.

Goalie Ben Scrivens plays for the ninth straight time and makes his eighth consecutive start while both Colton Orr and Mike Brown are available. Carlyle must decide whether both will play or keep centre David Steckel in the mix with Fraser McLaren. One will join defencmen Mike Komisarek and John-Michael Liles as healthy scratches.

The Canadiens will have forward Michael Ryder in the lineup after re-aquiring the former Hab in a trade with the Dallas Stars for Eric Cole. Should Ryder score, it will be his 100th for the Canadiens (he previously played for them from 2003 to 2008).

As a subplot to the game, Leafs centre Mikhail Grabovski has suddenly found his scoring eye with three goals in his last four games. The last time he played his former team he was accused of biting the forearm of Canadiens Max Pacioretty during a third period scuffle along the boards. But NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan found no conclusive evidence he did so no fine or suspension was levied.

Grabovski also plays some of his best against Montreal. He has more points against the Habs — 18 in 26 games — than against any other team.

Coincidentally, Pacioretty has also been hot since the alleged biting incident with four goals in his last six games.

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